The debate is over: According to a White House official, singer Beyonce lip-synced her performance of The Star Spangled Banner at Monday’s presidential inauguration.

“She did not sing live,” an inaugural official told CNN, adding that what audience members and home viewers heard was a pre-recorded version of the U.S. national anthem, which was sung by Beyonce.

“Because she didn’t have time to rehearse with the Marine Band, she decided to use her recording with the Marine Band,” the official explained, noting that her pre-recording of the song was “spot-on.”

Earlier this week, speculation abounded that Beyonce’s performance was not live, with many pointing to the mid-song removal of her ear-piece as evidence. However, on Wednesday, musician and recording technician Mike Doughty noted that removing an ear-piece during a live performance can be done for any number of reasons, and went on to list several bits of evidence suggesting that Beyonce was, in fact, singing live. Meanwhile, Aretha Franklin, who performed at U.S. President Obama’s first inauguration, noted that Monday’s chilly temperatures were not ideal singing conditions — and said that she would do the same thing.

Beyonce herself has not commented on the debate.Watch her performance below:

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There’s a big world out there, but it’s hard to see it when you’re sitting behind a desk, which is why writer Maryam Siddiqi took more than two weeks holiday. Actually, she took almost seven months to travel to 20 countries on four continents, documenting the journey the whole way. Visit our interactive map to see where Maryam went.